President Donald Trump on Thursday signed an executive order directly Education Secretary Linda McMahon to begin taking steps to close the Department of Education.

"We're going to eliminate it, and everybody knows it's right, and the Democrats know it's right, and I hope they're going to be voting for it, because ultimately it may come before them," he said. "But everybody knows it's right, that we have to get our children educated where we're not doing well with the with the world of education in this country, and we haven't for a long time."

"And this is a very popular thing to do, but much more importantly, it's a common sense thing to do, and it's going to work. Absolutely it's going to work," he insisted. "And I can tell you from dealing with the governors and others in the state, they want it so badly they want to take their children back and really teach their children individually, probably the cost will be half, and the education will be maybe many, many times better. So we look forward to this."

While Trump cannot outright abolish the DOE without an act of Congress, he can essentially hollow it out by firing staff and routing essential programs to other departments.

Prior to the signing, McMahon had already moved to drastically cut the department’s staff and nearly halved its total headcount. 

“Today’s reduction in force reflects the Department of Education’s commitment to efficiency, accountability, and ensuring that resources are directed where they matter most: to students, parents, and teachers,” she said at the time.

In the meantime, Sen. Mike Rounds, R-Ind., has already unveiled legislation to completely eliminate the DOE and move major loan programs to the Treasury.